This show was part of Independent Venue week and in the closest one to home making it a perfect time to visit. The show and week were sponsored by The Arts Council and the National Lottery nice to know my lottery money's going to good use!
We arrived just after Penny For The Workhouse started there set and having got a nice bottle of Pure Ubu ale at the bar went down onto the dance floor for Penny For the Workhouse who appear to play Steam Indie pop with a 5 piece line-up the first song heard all the way though was about The Dreamer the girl who was the main singer has a good voice somewhere between Lone Justice era Maria McKee and Monica Queen of Thrum While the two guys that do the backing vocals seem to be happy to be hamming it up a fair bit.
That said You're Professionals or whatever the next song was called sounded pretty cool if a little bit too loose they then did a pretty cool song suite about King George and how he wanted us to be ready for war that had good lyrics and was pretty catchy in parts even if the mock operatic singing from one of the blokes at the end was pretty odd and damn if said bloke doesn't look a bit like Ed Milliband the poor sod.
They did seem to have most of the crowd going for the next couple of songs about a willow tree and one about being Old that had the girl singer at her most Lone Justice like as they tried to transport us back to the 1890's or something before they closed with a song about Giant Slaying and it has to be said there isn't enough giant slaying on Kilburn High Road these days.
Next on was Quiet Quiet Band who it has to be said are anything but quiet in fact they were the loudest band on the night and as a 6 piece being quiet wouldn't be easy. They opened with a manic song about Taking A Stand that saw the mustachioed singer looking good and manic while the flat cap wearing bearded guitarist added some truly bonkers screamed backing vocals in the style of Jack Black and was that a Violin solo I think it was.
It would be impossible to Lay Low making the sort of noise they did like a cross between The Brute Chorus and Penny Black Remedy with hints of The Lucky Strikes thrown in for good measure. The song they have about Poisoned Confectionery was for me the highlight of the set, with the flat capped Jack Black alike getting properly howl at the moon manic while playing some over the top guitar mangling bits as the main singer tried to keep it focused and normal.
The set continued much the same way with the drums and bass keeping the band in focus while the guitars argued with each other and the violinist added good texture to the sound and every now and then the Flat capped guy let loose as they yowled about how it was So Much. Just Pull sounded like it ought to be a single as it was the most commercial thing they have, it's almost a pop song before they closed with Just Slide another raucous romp of a song with yet more nutty screaming, either way Quiet Quiet Band are well worth seeing live very entertaining.
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Then it was time for Evi Vine to play the first gig this year to promote her second album Give Your Heart To the Hawks that is due out at the end of February and her tour starts properly on the 25th February going across the UK and Germany.
Now I've been a fan of Evi Vine since she found me on Myspace before her first album came out so it was really good to see her playing so close to home for me. For this show they were performing as a trio with Steven Hill on Guitars and gadgets and a little bit of Keyboards and Ben Roberts on an extremely cool electric Cello and keyboards as well as Evi on Vocals and Guitar and drums. It has to be said they have more effects pedals and gadgets on stage than I've seen in a while but how else to create that sound.
They opened with recent single My Hands Are Tied and the sound they created that is like the Cocteau Twins mixed with Mazzy Star washed over us and Evi's glacial vocals treated and covered in effects sounded other worldly with Ben's keyboards quietly insistent and almost percussive.
For The dreamers was nice and woozy and quite floaty as the sound enveloped the club and Steven's Guitar went from barely there to almost squalling flourishes as this dreamscape built and built and then suddenly stopped almost sounding like it was cut off mid song. The Ben sat down and picked up his electric Cello for Give Your Heart To the Hawks that was gently mesmerising as the treated guitars meshed and the cello laid on the top creating a beautiful wash of sound that really needs to be heard while sitting in a candlelit room with a large glass of red wine and the one you love as you float away with the music.
Welcome The Dream Led Masses was just as ethereal but also saw Evi add some drums as well as her guitar and vocals to the swirling sound they were creating the cello intertwined with the keyboards and took us off on a nice trip. They then closed this short set with This Is How I'm Feeling and the answer to that would be floaty chilled out and rather blissful as this woozy whirl envelops us and carries us off to somewhere quite different to Kilburn High Road that's for sure. This was a very cool set.
If you want to find out the dates for Evi Vines tour you can find them at http://evivine.com/concerts/
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